For 30 years NCEEER has provided support to American scholars studying the former Soviet Union (FSU) and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). In the last few years, we have expanded our support for scholars from these regions. In order to enhance this diversification of programs and ensure strong support for research in the future, NCEEER has established the Edward L. Keenan NCEEER Endowment.

We are delighted that long-time supporter and friend of NCEEER, Ned Keenan, Professor of History at Harvard University, and Director of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, has enthusiastically agreed to lend his name to our endeavor. We are pleased to honor Ned's distinguished career and extensive contributions to the field. Ned was there at the creation of NCEEER, and he personifies our scholarly mission.

Both the United States and the larger international community need to support advanced research on the FSU and CEE. A solid foundation of scholarship is necessary to ensure that our public policies and our private initiatives are grounded in a strong understanding of the politics, economics, history, culture and societies of the region. The research NCEEER has supported has helped build such a foundation over the last two decades, and particularly since the end of the Cold War. In addition, NCEEER claims among its alumni key policy-makers such as Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright.

NCEEER has done much in recent years to strengthen our support for the Eurasian and Central and East European studies fields. We have formed a partnership with the American Councils for International Education, and we have obtained new grants from public and private funders, in order to diversify our programs and provide greater resources not only for American scholars, but also for their colleagues from the FSU and CEE. And even as we have taken these steps in new directions, we have maintained our longstanding National Research Competition, funded by the State Department under Title VIII, which provides critical resources to the American research community. NCEEER, in fact, has emerged as the largest supporter of postdoctoral research in the social sciences and humanities on the region.

Nevertheless, the external funding environment is an uncertain base of support for NCEEER's programs. Creating an independent endowment is essential to ensure that NCEEER can continue, as it has for over twenty years, to provide the resources that scholars need for their research about the FSU and CEE.

We ask you to consider making an investment in the future of advanced research and sound policy by contributing to the Edward L. Keenan NCEEER Endowment. No contribution is too small. We also welcome any suggestions you may have about how we may improve our efforts on behalf of scholars and policy-makers. Please feel free to contact us at 206-829-2445 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have any questions.